redire
by paranoiawrites
Summary: Watching her form retreating into the vast sea of the crowd, only then did he understood the feelings he has for her. "Nanami, let's continue our game. Winner takes all." "It's not much of a game if everyone knows that you'll win." "Who knows, maybe you'll win this time." Perhaps he could repair the damage he had done with this game they started from junior high. Akashi/OC.
1. the start

**_Full Summary:_**

 ** _Watching her form retreating into the vast sea of the crowd, only then did he understood the feelings he has for her._** ** _"Nanami, let's continue our game. Winner takes all."_** ** _"It's not much of a game if everyone knows that you'll win."_** ** _"Who knows, maybe you'll win this time."_** ** _Perhaps he could repair the damage he had done with this game they started from junior high._** ** _A game of love._** ** _Little did she knew that she had already won the game before it even started._**

* * *

 _ **oo. prologue**_

 _"Nanami, let's continue our game. Winner takes all."_

 _It came out of his lips suddenly. Blue eyes stared back at him, both intrigued yet cautious. She wondered why he had brought it up. She didn't even know what this game they were playing._

 _"It's not much of a game if everyone knows that you'll win."_

 _He chuckled at her reply. He never did told her what the game was when he first proposed it to her. Perhaps it was because he wanted to test himself. To see what he was feeling for her. His lips tugged into a simple smile._

 _"Who knows, maybe you'll win this time."_

 _If it was anything or anyone else, he would disagree. He was Akashi Seijūrō. He was absolute. But staring into those deep, innocent, cerulean eyes, he'll let it slide despite his own pride. He took a step closer to her, placing his right hand against her cheek, caressing them softly._

 _He didn't know why, but he deeply missed this intimacy. To be so close, yet so far from her. He pulled away from her, taking her hand in his own._

 _He could see her eyes widen at the sudden gesture. Something he had not done since their childhood._

 _Perhaps he could repair the damage he had done with this game they started from junior high. The game that started it all._

 _A game of love._

 _"I doubt that I'll win. You're always come on top of everything Akashi-kun. You always win at everything."_

 _Little did she know that she had already won the game before it even started._

 _He had always been so captivated by her. He had fallen deeply in love with her._

 _And he continued to fall even deeper._

* * *

 _ **⒈ the start**_

Blue eyes stared up at the building before her. Teikō Middle seemed bigger than she thought. She hesitantly took the first step pass the school gates, wondering how she would be able to cope with the bustling amount of students around. Well she supposed she would be fine if she didn't draw too much attention on herself. She had managed to avoid any contact with the upperclassmen in the courtyard, recruiting 1st years to join their respective clubs. Personally, she did not mind being part of the going-home club. She was more academically inverse, with some dabble in photography and art (but those two were merely hobbies of hers, nothing too outstanding). School was more important for her right now.

Her eyes lingered up at the large board, with names of all the students attending Teikō. She looked to the names of the first years, trying to find her own name. There...

 _Asahina Nanami. Class 1-A._

She blinked once. Then twice.

Class 1-A was where the students that made high marks get into, she wondered to herself how she was able to be apart of such high academic students. Nonetheless, she did not question it. The results were final, after all. Her eyes wandered around, curious if she would be able to recognized someone, or perhaps even find her older brother. It was then that her eyes landed on the sight of fiery red hair. It did not take long for the other to notice her gaze.

Once their eyes meet, his eyes showed a brief moment of surprised before he smiled softly at the girl. A glimmer of familiarity was seen in his eyes as he made his way over to her side with confident strides.

"Asahina-san, I did not expect to see you here," His lips tugged into a light smile as he faced her. She merely nodded, surprised with his appearance.

"It's nice too see you again, Akashi-kun," she answered. She had not seen the redhead heir for sometime now, she had always wondered what he was up to during the summer break.

"It seems like we are both in the same class," He remarked. Her eyes lit up at his words and glanced back at the board.

"Is that so?" She scanned the names in class 1-A, and sure enough. Just a few names above her own was his.

 _Akashi Seijūrō._

She blinked again before looking back at the other. "You're right." Was all she said, it was not like there was anything she could say. He had an amused smile at her obvious words.

"Of course." She sighed, even now he still seemed to have confidence in everything he did, not that she would mind. Having such confidence was something she strives for, but even so, her doubts were in the way of her goals.

"Are you planning on joining any clubs?" She asked the redhead heir. If her guess was right, he would still have an interest in basketball. Even if she herself was not interested in sports, both her childhood friend and her brothers were quite invested in participating in them. Regardless, she enjoyed seeing the passion for the sports they loved, and supported them til the end.

"Yes, the basketball club." As she expected, she nodded and smiled at her childhood friend. It was obvious that was the club he would join; when it was the just two of them, that was all they played as kids. "What about you, Asahina-san? Perhaps you can join as the basketball club's manager," at the mere suggestion, her blue orbs widened and she looked of the side, messing with the ends of her short hair with her fingers nervously. Her bangs covering her eyes as she looked down nervously before gazing back up at him.

"W-would that be alright? I never really was good at any sports, do you think I would be suited for the job?" There she goes, doubting herself. Although he would never voice it out, she was quite capable, if she did not doubt her own abilities often. Ruby orbs stared at her blankly while she was in the middle of her own rambling.

"You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable, Asahina-san. I merely thought that it would be a good opportunity for the two of us to make up for the loss time over last few years. We would be able to see each other often, other than in class."

 _Ah_ , when he said it like that, it seemed like a lovely idea. It was true, despite being childhood friends, the two had not been able to see one another after the death of his mother. But it was something out of her control, his father did start to become stricter than usual, only letting the two meet every so often before all together they stopped seeing one another.

She thought on his words, "I'll think about it." She said. She still did not believe that she was suitable for the task, but his words were making her wanted to join to make up for loss time. Perhaps it might not be so bad.

"We should head to the basketball club before class starts then, Asahina-san," His curt voice had interrupted her thoughts, she looked back at him and agreed. Class will begin shortly, and she was not fond of the idea of being put on the spot for being tardy on the first day.

"Alright, lead the way, Akashi-kun."

He nodded and led her pass the booths that other clubs were offering only to see him stop at one near the gym. Her small form was hidden behind him, making her peer over his shoulder. She noticed two students, a taller boy with dark hair and a girl with light brown hair.

"Oh, look Nijimura, new recruits!" The light haired brunette remarked, elbowing the taller male. He scowled as the girl elbowed him roughly.

"I can see that Sorami," the dark haired male, Nijimura, muttered before turning his attention to the first years before him, "So you're here to join the basketball club?" He asked the redhead, who merely nodded. Nijimura noticed the young girl behind the redhead, "Then what about you?" He asked, directing his question to the girl.

"E-eh? Me, oh..." Blue eyes averted to the ground as she shifted nervously. Sorami frowned and kneed the back of Nijimura's knee.

"Idiot! You're scaring the poor girl!" Sorami hissed before smiling at the first year, "Hey, don't worry about Mr. Grumpy-pants here, he's actually real nice despite how he looks!" Hearing the girl's words, Nijimura made a face and glared at Sorami.

"Oi! Sorami!" He warned, but his companion ignored him.

"Are you perhaps here for the role of manager?" Sorami asked. Nanami nodded and looked back at Akashi, who gave her an small, encouraging smile. She still had not decided on the idea, still doubting herself.

"Well, truthfully," Her voice trailed off. She did not get to continue her sentence as Sorami smiled and grasped the first year's hand in her own, startling the dark haired brunette.

"That's great! It would be great to have another manager around, it would put me at ease if we have some first year managers around, us upperclassmen managers would definitely appreciate it!" Sorami rambled, moving her face close to Nanami's. It was then that the younger girl was able to get a closer look at the upperclassmen's features.

She had an light brown eyes to go along with her light brown hair. With her hair up in a ponytail, she noticed that Sorami had a round face and fair skin as her side bangs layered her face. To Nanami, Sorami was quite pretty, she felt her own cheek heat up to be close to someone that would be considerably attractive in comparison to her plain looks.

 _T-too close!_ Her blue eyes stared in shock at the other, averting her eyes as she tried to distract herself.

"U-um...well, y-you see..." She couldn't help but stutter slightly as Sorami was invading her personal space. Akashi let out an amused sigh and spoke up.

"Asahina-san, we should head to class soon," He brought his hand to his friend's shoulder.

"Oh, that's right! Well here are the forms for club members, and this one is for the position of manager!" Sorami pulled away and went to grab two papers, handing them to the two first years. Nanami looked back at her hand, dazed as she tried to process what had happened, while Akashi took both papers and neatly placed them away in his bag.

"Thank you very much," He said, leading Nanami towards their classroom.

"Just be sure to fill them out and return them to the basketball club once you're done." Nijimura added before he turned to Sorami and gave her a lecture for her behavior.

"Asahina-san, are you feeling well?" Akashi asked as he led her to their classroom, he figure that with that upperclassmen girl invading Nanami's space, she was feeling uncomfortable. "You've been in a daze for sometime now."

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing," She brushed off, she did feel slightly uncomfortable with what had happened, but it would pass. She did not think she would encounter someone who was...touchy.

"Perhaps class will put you at ease before heading back to drop the forms for the basketball club," He suggested. _Would it really?_ She wondered.

"Maybe," She sighed, there was no use in thinking about it right now. Class was about to start soon. It was best to focus on her studies for now.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello, this is my first KnB fanfic and truthfully it has been a while since I've written fanfics. So I don't really expect this to meet everyone's expectations. I just felt the mood to write some fanfiction and I went back to revise and edit this fanfic I had started a few years ago. I posted the prologue and chapter one both on wattpad already.**

 **I just hope that Akashi doesn't seem to be ooc, he's complex for me to write, but I did my best to picture how he would act during middle school. The story starts throughout the Teiko Arc and then to the current time line (yes, I will continue to EXTRA GAME as well). Even though, this story is going to focus on Akashi and Nanami, there will be small side pairing that will make an appearance. This chapter's pairing appearance is Nijimura and Sorami who's relationship and formal introduction will appear in the next chapter hopefully.**

 **Other than that, I hope everyone who has read this enjoyed it and I apologize for any mistakes. Reviews to improve are welcomed.**


	2. manager

_**⒉ manager**_

Classes had passed by quickly, before she knew it, Nanami found that it was now lunch. Had it not been for her redhead friend, she would not have noticed.

"Are you going somewhere?" She asked the boy as he was already standing up, making his way to the door. Akashi looked back at her and nodded.

"I'm going to turn in my form for the basketball club, practice will be after school today," He answered, "Have you filled out the form that Sorami-san gave you?" She looked away and shook her head.

"I still haven't decided yet," She muttered. He nodded, even though he wanted her to join with him, he won't push her to do something she was not comfortable with for his own selfish reasons. He understood that she had her boundaries and respected that.

"I see, well you have until the end of the day to turn it in if you do decide to join. Regardless, I'll respect whatever decision you make in the end, Asahina-san," with that said, she felt a bit relieved.

"Thank you, Akashi-kun. I feel at ease when I hear you say that," She smiled back at the redhead. He gave her a nodded and turned back.

"I'll be back soon," He said, leaving the classroom to the gym. She let out a sigh and took the application form out. She stared at it blankly, tapping her pencil along the blank line of the form.

"Where to start..." She hummed, reading the form carefully. She did not know much about basketball, only certain basics of it such as dribbling and shooting due to Akashi playing it often when they were children. Her eyes continued to stare blankly at the form before she let out a frustrated sigh as she had only filled out her name, age, and class. Perhaps she'll get a drink, there was a vending machine near one of the gyms. She figured that she might as well ask for Sorami-san for help with filling out this form on her way there.

She stood up and left the classroom, heading to the nearest vending machine with the application form in her hand. Since most of the students were out having lunch, she gazed down at the form.

"Being a manager won't be that difficult right?" She asked herself. As she stared at the form, she failed to noticed someone in front of her, before she could prevent herself from bumping into the other it was too late. A short gasp was heard from the other as the two collided into one another and both fell down. Papers scattered around the floor around the two students.

Nanami gasped, her face flushed as she realized her mistake, "I-I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention! A-are you alright?" She asked the other. When she looked to get a better view of the other, she saw pink. Pink eyes. Pink hair. Her eyes stared at the person she had bumped into-a girl with long pink hair.

The newcomer merely giggled, signaling Nanami that she was not angry with her. "It's fine, I guess we both we're paying attention!" she replied cheerfully. The pink-haired girl dusted off any dust and dirty off her uniform and stood up, brushing a few stands of hair out of her face. Nanami was at a loss of words. She had thought Sorami-san was pretty, but the one before her was what most boys would refer to as a beauty. She wondered to herself how many attractive people were attending this school.

The pink-haired girl crouched down to pick up the scattered papers and noticed the application form with blue-eyed girl's name on it.

"Oh, are you planning to apply for the manager opening for the boy's basketball club?" She asked. Nanami blinked before grasping onto her words and nodded.

"Well, I haven't really decided for sure..." she muttered. The other girl's eyes lit up, surprised with her answered.

"Huh? But you already filled out most of it, so that must mean you plan on joining as well, right?" She contemplated on her words. Did she really want to? Well she was curious, but would they accept someone like her, with little to none experience in sports.

"I supposed, but I worry..." she sighed, "I mean, I don't really have much experiences in sports. I highly doubt they'll have me."

"There's no need to doubt yourself, Asahina-chan!" She blinked, she didn't really introduced herself to the other girl, yet how... The pink-haired girl saw the look she was giving her and smiled.

"Oops, sorry I read your name on the application. My name is Momoi Satsuki!" She giggled and clasped the other's hand in her own. Somehow this was vaguely familiar to the blue-eyed brunette. "I'm also joining the boy's basketball club as manager, it would be great to have another girl around to help take care of them."

Nanami stared at Momoi and averted her eyes away from her. How did this happen? She wondered. "I-I.." She didn't get to start her sentence as Momoi helped the girl up from the floor.

"Here, how about we both head to the gym together?" She suggested. "I was on my way there anyways, since I was also looking for my friend, but he ran off before we could eat lunch together," she huffed. Nanami stared blankly at the pink-haired girl. Momoi led the way, dragging the brunette by her hand.

"Eh?" She didn't realized that she was being dragged by the other, she was still in a daze from the girl. "Ah! W-wait!" She tried to protest, upon realizing where they were headed, but Momoi didn't listen and continued to dragged the poor girl.

"Come on, Asahina-chan! We're almost at the gym!" Momoi pouted, seeing as the other was trying to escape. "Oh, are you perhaps nervous?" She suddenly asked, seeing the uneasy expression the other girl had. How thoughtless could she be. Nanami stiffened slightly. Nervous? Her? _Absolutely._

"I-I just don't think I would be best-suited as manager for the basketball team, my friend said not to push myself if I'm not comfortable with the idea, but it's also an opportunity for us to spend more time together other than in class," She interjected, "Plus, I'm not that interested in sports..." She muttered the last part. It was true, despite not having a deep interest or passion for sports, she did not necessarily dislike it. She admired seeming players having such passion for what they do. Now she was torn. She wasn't sure what to do. Momoi could see her inner turmoil and offered a smile.

"Then, how about we just check the basketball club out instead? It wouldn't hurt, besides I'm sure they won't mind since the upperclassmen are trying to get more members to join." Nanami thought on her words. It seemed like a nice idea, she nodded and allowed the pink-haired girl to drag her to the gym. As the two continued to walk to the basketball gym, Momoi had started to talk to the other girl about how she became interested in basketball ball and her childhood friend. In return, the brunette would respond the best she could and add small comments here and there, although it was her pink-haired companion that spoke the most on their way.

Upon arriving, Momoi opened the doors to the gym and released her grip on Nanami's hand to step inside. Nanami, on the other hand, was still nervous and only peeked her head from behind the doors.

Momoi glanced back at her and saw the nervous look that she had, "Asahina-chan, there's no need to be nervous, if you're worried about the boys, then I'll protect you!" Nanami didn't feel any better from that, but she did appreciate the gesture.

"Ah, thank you, Momoi-san, but you don't have to go that far," She said, giving the pink beauty a reassuring smile.

"Asahina-san?" Hearing her name, she turned to see her redhead friend. She stood up straight from behind the door and made her way over to him.

"Oh, Akashi-kun, are you done turning in the form?" She asked, in return he smiled and nodded. She smiled back at the redhead, "That's good, I'm certain that you will be one of the regulars."

"That's reassuring to hear, Asahina-san," Akashi said. Momoi stared at the two childhood friends. She assumed that this redhead was the friend that Nanami mentioned earlier, but the way they spoke to one another was filled with formalities. This was supposed to be the brunette's childhood friend, but the two spoke as if they had briefly met. It certainly did not look like what two childhood friends would interact with one another from her view. _Well, Asahina-chan does seemed to be polite and old-fashioned,_ Momoi mused, _it must be a habit, I'll have to convince her to be less formal with me in the future!_

"Oi, Satsuki, what are you doing here?" Momoi turned to see a dark-skinned boy with dark blue hair. Nanami turned her attention to the boy that had called to Momoi and jumped slightly. _A-a delinquent?!_ She cried internally, moving closer to her redhead friend. This newcomer seemed rough around the edges, even though she didn't want to make assumptions, she couldn't help it.

"Dai-chan! There you are! I was looking for you earlier!" She huffed, walking to the boy and pinched the taller boy's ear, "I've been looking for you earlier! You can't just run off like that!"

"Oi! Satsuki! D-don't pull on my ear!" a shout was heard from the dark-skinned male. Nanami stared at the duo before her, still caution from the other boy's appearance. Akashi noticed her guarded up posture and nudged her slightly, hoping to ease her worries.

"There's no need to worry, Asahina-san," he said. The girl was still anxious, but tried to relaxed slightly, lowering her guard.

"Sorry, I was just surprised..." she answered. Momoi paused from her bickering with her childhood friend and turned towards Nanami.

"Ah, Asahina-chan, this is my childhood friend I mentioned earlier!" She said, referring to the taller blue-haired boy. "His name is Aomine Daiki!" hearing his name the other boy greeted her.

"Huh?! Really?!" She gasped, staring at her pink-haired companion. She stared at her then turned her attention to the boy next to her. "He's really the boy you were talking about on the way here?" She asked. "No offense, but I was expecting someone...uh..." she didn't really want to say what she had on her mind. The way Momoi has described him was completely different, "No, nevermind..." she sighed.

"What's with all the ruckus?" Sorami appeared, making her way towards the group. She paused as she noticed Nanami, "Oh! It's the first-year from this morning, have you decided to turn in your form for the position of manager?" She asked.

"Uh, well..." she didn't get to continued as Sorami clasped her hand again. _A-again?!_

"Please, I know I seem desperate, but we need some more first-year managers!" Sorami begged. It threw the brunette of guard as she was shocked. Momoi saw her upperclassmen trying to convince the brunette to join the basketball club and couldn't help but do the same. She didn't want make the girl uncomfortable, but the idea of having another girl she had become _(somewhat)_ friends with to join was too much for her to contain.

"Asahina-Chan, I know you haven't decided for sure, but it would be great if you were to be manager as well, it would be better to have another girl around!" Momoi joined in, moving into Nanami's personal space. Immediately, Nanami's face paled considerably. This much attention from two attractive looking girls was too much. It was making her nervous and on edge.

"O-oi! Satsuki! I think she's going to pass out!" she could hear the pink-haired beauty's friend call out to the other. Akashi could see the uncomfortable look she had and tried to intervene.

"Perhaps we should head back to class now, Asahina-san," He tried to free her from the two girls' grasp, but how would he do that without adding more tension to Nanami's current state.

"Sorami! What did I tell you about harassing first years to join the club!" Now another one was coming over the them. Soon there was a small group circling the young brunette, she needed to think something quick before more would come to see what was happening. _W-what to do?! What to do?!_ There was only one thing that came to mind.

"S-sure!" She said hastily. She didn't know what else to do than agree, all this pressure from being surround was starting to be unnerving to her. Hearing the girl's sudden agreement, the two smiled.

"You're serious? You'll really join?" Sorami asked, she couldn't contain her own enthusiasm and hugged the brunette, "Thank you so much!" Nanami couldn't really take back what she said, it was done in the spur of the moment. All she could do now was go along with it and nodded.

"I-it's fine!" Nanami said, trying to move away from her upperclassmen. Momoi giggled and smiled at Nanami.

"That's great! I can't wait to be co-manager with you Asahina-chan!" She said. Nanami smiled nervously and nodded.

"Y-yeah..." She muttered, once she was finally free, she handed the form to Sorami. Despite it being a sudden decision from the pressure, being co-manager wouldn't be that bad right?

"Alright, although you and Momoi-chan are the only two first year that applied for the position of manager, I'll assign you to both be co-managers, after school there will be tryouts of first, second, and third strings, while the boys do that I'll explain the basics of what managers do," Sorami explain, talking the form from Nanami.

Nanami only nodded as she was still anxious about joining so suddenly. Perhaps it will be a change of pace, maybe something new will bloom while being the boy's basketball club's manager.

 _It won't be that bad right?_

* * *

 ** _This took a while to get done, mostly cause I was trying to think of something to introduce the other characters and a reason for Nanami to have more interaction with GoM. So although it is cliche, she does become (co) manager, but she doesn't really have that much interest in sports, it was more rash and sudden on her part due to her own pressure as you can see._**

 _ **Also this is both a late present for both Akashi's birthday and Christmas. So hopefully this is satisfied some of you readers for the wait, romance in this story will happen much later on, I want to focus more of the relationship building on the GoM with Nanami and also the friendship between her and Akashi before any of that. Again I hope no one was ooc, I wasn't sure about Momoi's personality again cause it's been a while since I watched KnB (i should go back and re-watch it again) but she seemed like a very outgoing and bubbly girl when she's not analyzing for the team,**_

 _ **Constructive reviews and ideas to improve the story is welcomed!**_


	3. a colorful bunch

_**⒊ a colorful bunch**_

After that scuffle from the basketball club earlier, Nanami hastily headed back to class, with a certain redhead in tow. Despite his own selfish desires, he did worry about the girl's current state. If he recalled from their childhood days, she did not have a keen liking to falling into the pressure of others nor was she of being the center of attention.

"Asahina-san, are you quite alright?" He asked, it seemed like he would be asking this question to her many times now. Said girl merely looked back at the redhead and sighed. Was she really alright? She herself did not know.

"I'm not sure, Akashi-kun..." She sounded dejected, he had noted. _Was it because she was forced into the position of manager?_ He wondered, perhaps.

"Is it due to being co-manager of the basketball club?" He wasn't hesitant to ask. If something was bothering her, he wanted to help resolve it. She was his precious childhood friend after all. Nanami hummed, unsure what to say. _Was it that?_ She was, at first, bothered for making such a rash decision on her end, but in the end she had come to terms with it. Besides, she had to admit that a new experience wouldn't hurt.

"No, I've come to terms with my rash decision, beside like you said before it would be a great opportunity to spend time with each other, I've just been thinking about Mom and Amatsu-niisan, especially with Amatsu-niisan taking a break from club activities to help with the store...I just hope they'll be fine without me around since both Kousei-niisan and Ritsu take part in after school activities now."

 _Ah, so that was what was on her mind._ He didn't see Mrs. Asahina as much as he would like to as a child, only a few times when his mother would take him to the bakery that Nanami's mother owns. But he recalled that the woman was quite frail and pale if his memory was right. He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile.

"I'm sure they would rather you enjoy yourself, we only just started junior high, it's best to have some peace to ourselves while it lasts," Somehow he always knew what to say to cheer her up.

"Thank you Akashi-kun, you always know the right words to say," She stifled a small laugh. It was quite the charismatic trait of his. "It makes me quite happy that I have a friend like you." He smiled, he felt the same as well. Nanami smiled and grasped his wrist, surprising the redhead. "We should hurry back to class now otherwise the teacher will be in quite a fit," She said, leading him back towards the classroom.

Akashi was taken aback by her sudden gesture, but did not turn them down, it was oddly nostalgic. Had it been quite some time since they last held hands like this? He could help but recall memories of when they held hands as children. It brought back an oddly warm and familiar feeling bubbling inside of him. He followed behind her as she lead him back to class by his wrist, reminiscing the days of their childhood.

* * *

The latter half of classes had passed within a blur, Akashi had listened to each lecture intently, but it was not like it was was anything he already did not know from the tutors his father hired prior before entering Teiko. Red eyes glanced towards his seatmate, she had been taking notes throughout all of the lectures and lesson tentatively. Even though he admired her diligence with her education, he thought that constantly writing down everything the teachers had been say was quite ridiculous.

 _Perhaps it was to take her mind off of what happened,_ he mused to himself as he finished gathering his books.

"Asahina-san, are you done? We should head towards the gym now." Hearing her name, she looked up and nodded. She had completely absorbed in making sure she had all her notes put together that she didn't realized that Akashi had already finished gathering his belongings.

"Right, I'm sorry, I didn't realized that you were ready to go now!" She quickly closed her notebook with her notes and pencil being placed neatly inside her bag. Once she was done, cerulean eyes stared back into his ruby orbs, "Shall we head to the gym now, Akashi-kun?"

He nodded and walked beside her as they made their way to the gym together. The walk there was filled with a blissful silence, one that both of them did not mind. The silence helped eased and calmed Nanami as she tried to collect herself before she met with Momoi and Sorami.

As the duo reached the gym, they were greeted by the sight of Sorami and Nijimura talking to two men, Akashi assumed that the other two were coaches.

"Asahina-chan!" Hearing her name, Nanami turned to see Momoi running towards her. Instinctively, the brunette moved closer to the redhead, letting out a small yelp.

"Momoi-san, you startled me!" She gasped, as she looked back at the peach-haired beauty. Trailing behind her was Aomine, although, Nanami only knew him by his name.

"Satsuki, stop running around!" He sighed, with a tired expression. In return, Momoi puffed her cheeks.

"Well it's not my fault! I'm just glad that I finally have a female friend to talk with now!" She huffed. Aomine merely brushed her remark off and let out a scoff at her before looked down at the brunette hiding behind the redhead. He remembered seeing her earlier and decided to introduced himself again.

"Yo, the name's Aomine Daiki," he said casually. Nanami nodded.

"A-Asahina Nanami, pleased to meet you..." she said albeit hesitantly. Aomine stared down at her intently, making her on the edge of her nerves. She wondered what he was staring down at her before he muttered something under his breath.

"Flat..."

 _What?_ Nanami had a blank stare confused as to what that ment before Momoi pinched the other by his ear. Akashi merely cleared his throat, albeit feeling a slight feeling of irritation rising within himself as he looked up at the other who was eyeing Nanami's chest.

"Dai-chan! Don't say something crude to someone you just meet!" She hissed, clearly bothered by the perverse remark than the brunette was.

"Ah, I'm not really sure what happened, but it's fine, really!" She tried to stop the beauty from ripping her childhood friend's ear off.

"No, it's not," both Momoi and Akashi replied in unison. Thankfully, Sorami appeared, walking over to the group. For once, Nanami was as thankful for the upperclassmen's appearance.

"Oh? What's this? A friendly meet up?" She asked the group. _This looks anything but friendly..._ Nanami thought to herself. "Anyways, Momoi-san, Asahina-san, since you're both here let's head over to the bench, I'll introduce you both to the coaches and the captain!"

"O-oh, alright!" Nanami said, taking her leave as she gave Akashi a small smile. Momoi followed the suit but not before giving Aomine a small lecture about his crude behavior towards her new found friend.

"Coach! Here are the two first years that applied for the manager position!" Sorami introduced. Nanami seemed to have calmed down seeing the friendly smile that one of the two men had. She assumed that they were both coaches for the basketball team.

"I see, so you'll both be co-manager, is that right?" The elder of the two asked, "I'm the head coach, Shirogane-san, and this is the assistant coach, Sanada-sensei." The other man merely nodded at his introduction by the head coach. Nanami bowed slightly and introduced herself, followed by Momoi.

"And where's that no-good Captain, huh?" Sorami asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. With that being said, a water bottle made contact with the top of her head.

"Who are you calling 'no-good' huh?" Nijimura asked, glaring down at the girl. Sorami huffed, her cheeks puffed out as she narrowed her eyes at the raven head male.

"Who else, dummy?" Nanami panicked slightly as she could see some tension between the two. The two seemed like they were about to argue and she felt as if she should stop them.

"Now, now you two, no need for your usual banter in front of the first years," Shirogane cut in, "Nijimura, introduce yourself." Seeing both Momoi and Nanami, Nijimura let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry, I'm Nijimura Shūzo, captain of the basketball team." Nanami looked up at him and recalled that he was with Sorami earlier when she and Akashi went to see the basketball club in the morning.

"I'm Momoi Satsuki, nice to meet you Nijimura-san!" Momoi said, giving Nijimura a smile before bowing.

"Ah...Asahina Nanami, nice to meet you Nijimura-senpai..." Nanami followed after Momoi. Sorami then spoke up.

"Oh, that's right! I didn't properly introduced myself! My name is Sorami Ryo! A second year! And the official manager—"

A couple of coughs were heard as there was some second and third year students behind her giving her some looks. Sorami chuckled nervously and cleared her throat.

"— _ahem!_ One of the official managers for the basketball team!" She continued, fixing her mistake as the other managers smiled with satisfaction. "Now I'll introduce the other managers so they can help you two with the basics!" She said, introducing the ones behind her.

* * *

From what Nanami could tell, being a manager didn't seem that bad, just help around with the team by giving them some water or towels during games, perhaps even some support and help with practice. Simple enough. Although, she was skeptical when they mentioned training camps, some would be out of town and in other prefectures. That worried her greatly. But with Momoi and Sorami's reassurance that they wouldn't be that far, helped eased her slightly.

But aside from that, it seemed fun. Sorami had suggested some mini games that included all three strings of the basketball team. The second year wanted to make sure that all members would have fun. Because of this, Nanami admired Sorami's enthusiasm.

But the court was what caught her attention, each player was phenomenal, but none could compare to the first string, it was as if they were in a whole different league. Showing their potential and skills whilst having fun. She liked seeing those kind of expressions on others. Soon, her eyes landed on Akashi and Aomine, along with two others. It's wasn't just because of their skills, but also their brightly odd colored hairs and height. A bespectacled green-haired boy kept making remarkable shoots from the court while as there was a tall purple-haired boy with was barely putting any effort, yet was still able to block shots from other members of the court. She assumed it was because of his height that gave him the advantage.

"What an odd bunch..." she muttered, well it definitely because of their colorful hair. _Red. Blue. Green. And purple._ Speaking of colors. She glanced back at Momoi, who was also watching the basketball practice with a serious expression, her pink eyes staring at the basketball team intently. _Pink._ Her eyes then turned to see Nijimura, he definitely showing his skills as captain, leading and commanding his teammates as they played. _Rainbow._ That last thought occurred to her as she noticed the meaning of Nijimura's name. She couldn't help but chuckle, the whole rainbow of colors right before her. Playing a game of basketball. It was pretty amusing when she thought about it.

She didn't realize it, but tryouts were now over as she saw the boys lineup and Coach Shirogane was now in the front center along with Sanada, Nijimura, and Sorami. It was then that they announced the members of the first strings. There were some gasps and mutterings as the names were mentioned. Nanami didn't really understand what the fuss was about and went to Momoi.

"Momoi-san, why are the others so surprised about?" She asked. Momoi turned to her and saw the perplexed look Nanami had.

"Well, from what I heard, it's impossible for any first years to make it into the first string." Nanami's eyes widened. But she was certain that she had heard both Akashi and Aomine's names mentioned. "Not to mention four first years!"

"Eh? Is it really that hard to get in?" She asked. Maybe she was more inexperienced with the sport than she thought. She would have to congratulate both Akashi and perhaps, maybe Aomine for making it into the first string.

* * *

Once practice was over and everyone had finished changing, Nanami had made her way towards Akashi. She wanted to congratulate him on making it into the first string, if it was as difficult as Momoi said, it was certainly something they should celebrate. Perhaps she would offer him to come over for dinner since it was quite late.

"Congrats on making it into the first string!" She said. It must have been a huge accomplishment for him, and she couldn't help but be happy for her friend.

"Thank you, Asahina-san." Akashi said as the two of them walked of the gym together. There was silence among the two, making her retreat to her own thoughts. She recalled what some of the managers had said to both her and Momoi. With being co-manager, that would mean she would have to stay after school for practice, although she was not fully acquainted with the basketball club, least she had Momoi and Akashi to talk to in the mean time. Still she worried about her family, she wondered if they would really be alright with her being part of the basketball club.

As the two were about to head their separate ways for the day, they were stopped by Momoi, who had called out to them.

"Akashi-kun, Asahina-chan! Wait!" Nanami stopped and turned to the pink-haired girl. The girl had stopped in front of them, out of breath as she paused to collect herself.

"Momoi-san? What is it?" Nanami asked, hoping that she wasn't too out of breath. Once she stood up straight, she had a wide smile on her face.

"Dai-chan and I were wondering if you would like to join us for ice cream! To celebrate on being members of the first strings!" Nanami tilted her head. This was a first, she didn't think anyone would invite her out like this. Especially on the first day of school. She hesitantly looked over at Akashi. She supposed that this would be a nice opportunity to celebrate than inviting Akashi over for dinner, it would also help her get acquainted with both Aomine and Momoi.

"You can go Asahina-san, I have something to do at home," Akashi said. Nanami turned back to the redhead. Although, she did want to join, she wasn't sure if she was ready to go with someone she had only met today, at least not without someone she knew.

"Eh? Are you sure, Akashi-kun?" He smiled at her and patted her head, as if to assure her that things will go well without him with her. He could tell that she wanted to go celebrate, and as much as he would like to go, his father had some tasks that he had to do once tryouts for the basketball team was done. He supposed that he will have to make it up to her some other time.

"It's fine, maybe some other time." He said, leaving the group. Nanami stared at his retreating figure, a bit disappointed that he had to leave, but she knew that she couldn't do anything about it and sighed before she turned to Momoi.

"I guess I wouldn't mind joining you—" she paused as she looked up to see someone looming over her. _A-a giant!_ Was the the first thing that came to mind as she stared up at the looming figure.

"Eh, what's taking so long? Are we going to get sweets or not?" The looming figure asked. Immediately, she wished that Akashi had stayed. Nanami let out a small shriek and hid behind the closest person near her. She had her eyes closed and thought she was hiding behind Momoi or at least, much to her chagrin and embarrassment, Aomine.

"Excuse me." She heard a unfamiliar voice and looked up to see the green-haired, bespectacled boy at practice. Her face flushed many shades of red as she moved away from him and bowed her head before him. _How embarrassing!_

"M-My apologizes!" She said. The boy merely fixed his glasses with one hand and held a phone book in the other. _Why a phone book?_ She wondered.

"It's fine, I suppose being near someone at _his_ size would be startling to anyone," he replied, motioning to the purple-haired giant. Nanami looked back up and saw that the giant was also at practice. She thought he was tall, but now that she was closer in person. He was a giant compared to her size.

"Stop scaring Asahina-chan, you two!" Momoi said. "Let's go, Asahina-chan!"

"Eh? Who's this?" The purple-haired giant seemed to finally registered Nanami's presence and was staring down at her. Nanami felt even more on edge now.

"A-A-Asahina Nanami, sir!" She said hastily as she bowed before the giant. _Sir?_ The others looked at her strangely as she was shaking where she stood.

"Asahina-chan, it's alright, Murasakibara-kun won't hurt you!" Momoi said, trying to calm the cerulean-eyed girl down. Though, she seemed to be failing.

"Ah, sorry, you're so small," Murasakibara replied, lazily. Somehow that didn't make Nanami feel better. She feared that because of her small stature that she'll be stepped on by him one day if she wasn't careful. She made a note to steer away from him in the future otherwise, she might end up like a squished ant.

"Oh, and the guy with the phone book you bumped into just now is Midorima Shintaro!" Momoi introduced the green-haired boy. He fixed his glasses and sighed.

"I can introduce myself, Momoi," he said, slightly irritated, but the girl brushed him off as if he didn't seem that irritated.

"No need to be defensive Midorima-kun! You're just being too slow!" She replied, "Anyways lets go!" She dragged Nanami and proceed to pull her next to herself and Aomine. She didn't realize it, but she was slightly shorter than Momoi, which meant that she was currently the shortest in the group. That along just brought her self-esteem down. Then a thought came to her. _Why were the those two tagging along?_ She understood Momoi and Aomine since they were friends, but why Murasakibara and Midorima.

"Uh, if I may ask, why are you two coming along with us?" She asked the two newcomers.

"Momoi has asked us to join, I just so happened to live in the direction of where they are heading and decided to come along," Midorima answered, fixing his glasses again. He held the phone book close to him, making Nanami stare at him. Though he had said that, Nanami had a feeling that he might have wanted to join and used that as an excuse to join. _Is this what some call a tsundere?_ She wondered.

"And the phone book?" She had to ask. It was just piquing her curiosity as she stared at the item in his hand.

"It's Cancer's lucky item for today according to Oha Asa." _Oha Asa?_ She wondered.

"Lucky item? As in fortune telling?" She asked. She wasn't familiar with those types of things, but she wouldn't turn down an offer if she was asked. Plus, it seemed interesting now that she thought of it.

"In a sense, yes. What's your zodiac sign?" _What an abrupt question!_ She thought to herself. She didn't expect that at all, normally one wouldn't really ask that kind of question until they were perhaps more acquainted in the future.

"I-I believe it's Aquarius..." she answered. At this Midorima looked as if he was in deep thought before he spoke again. Nanami wonder what on Earth he was thinking.

"Hm, although Aquarius and Cancers do not have the best compatibility, it's also not the worse compared to Gemini's."

 _What does that mean?_ She clearly did not understand him at all.

"Ah, anyways," She didn't think she could comprehend what he was saying at all, she could only tell that Midorima was quite the superstitious one. She turned her attention to the purple-haired giant, asking him the same question.

"What about you Murasakibara-kun?" She asked. Looking down at her, Murasakibara hummed to himself.

"Ah, Momoi-chan asked if I wanted ice cream and I agreed," he replied. There was nothing to it, that was all he said.

"Is that so?" Simple enough. An opportunity to get food was a good enough reason for her.

"Since the two of them and Akashi-kun were the only other first years, besides Dai-chan, that made it into the first string, I thought it would be a good idea to asked them to join us for ice cream!" Momoi added. _Ah, that makes sense._ Nanami nodded before Momoi spoke up again, announcing that they had arrived at their destination.

"Oh, here we are!" The brunette stared up and saw they were at a local convenience store. She didn't expect this, seeing her expression Momoi decided to quickly apologized. "I'm sorry that it's not what you were expecting, but we're all broke at the moment!" She said quickly.

"Ah, no, it's fine!" Nanami said. She didn't mind really, considering that they were only in junior high, it should have been obvious that this was some place they would go to. Although she did have enough money on her from saving up on her allowance her mother gave her for emergencies, few months prior. As they entered inside, Momoi pulled her to the wide selections of ice creams on display. They were so many to choose from, but for Nanami, she decided to go with vanilla. She was a simple girl with simple tastes. As she grabbed her ice cream, she looked back at Aomine and Momoi, who both seemed to have gloomy expressions.

"What happened?!" She asked the two, concern written over her face. Momoi let out a nervous laugh and used one finger the scratch her cheek.

"Ah, sorry, I just realized that we don't have enough money..." Momoi said, flashing a nervous smile.

"I didn't think they would raise the price for ice cream..." Aomine muttered. _Just how broke are you two?_ She wondered. It only cost a couple of yen, since they were at a local convenience store. Well they were nice enough to invite her, a complete stranger in their eyes, thus Nanami decided to treat them.

"Ah, if that's the case, if you two want, I can pay for the two of you." She said. Instantly both Aomine and Momoi's eyes brightened. They looked at her as if she was an angel.

"Really, thank you so much, Asahina-chan!" Momoi hugged the smaller girl. Aomine showed his appreciation by ruffling her hair. Apparently they really wanted some ice cream.

"Thanks, Asahina!" He said, Nanami chuckled as she moved herself away from Momoi's grasp and fixed her hair from Aomine's ruffles.

"It's fine. I don't mind really, think of it as thanks for inviting me," She said. The two beamed at her and cheered as she went to the cashier, while she did, Nanami noticed Murasakibara gazing intently at one of the snacks by the cashier. "Ah, Murasakibara-kun, do you perhaps want one of these snacks?" She asked. It was clearly evident in his eyes that he wanted those snacks.

"Hmm," he nodded childishly, "but I don't have that much money left since I used it to buy the last box of maibou and a couple of ice cream," He puffed his cheeks. _Ah, really?!_ She then noticed the plastic bag filed up to the top in his hand. _He's serious!_ Letting out a nervous chuckle, she spoke up.

"I could buy it for you if you want?" She offered. The purple giant's eyes lit up. _Ah, it's like being with a child,_ She noted as she saw the child-like innocence in the purple giant's eyes.

"Really? Thank you! Asa-chin!" He smiled at her, patting her head as if he wasn't the child in this situation. _Asa-chin?_ Nanami smiled at the odd nickname. She never had someone come up with a nickname for her. It was oddly nice. It seemed like the only ones who had enough money was herself and Midorima (despite that he didn't offer to pay for the others or the fact that Murasakibara did had money but not enough for all the snacks he wanted).

Although she had only met them today, they seemed to be a colorful bunch (no pun intended), making her have many impressions of them. First was Midorima, who didn't seem to talk that much, but she had learned that she was also in the same class as him, and in fact sat behind her much to her surprise and was very superstitious as he listened to Oha Asa's fortune-telling broadcasting. Then there was Murasakibara who was, despite his size, was more of a child and seemed to have the same temperament as one, Nanami supposed if that was the case then he wasn't that bad to be around (she just had to avoid being to close to him otherwise risk being stepped on and perhaps spoil him with snacks if push comes to shove). Momoi seemed to be the one that stuck close to her and got along with the most, although Nanami hoped that she didn't drag her by the arm that much, she feared that her arms would fall off if she continued. And lastly Aomine, although she was initially afraid of him at first, he seemed kinder than she originally thought, although there some comments he made that she didn't understand (such as that flat comment he said to her earlier, what on earth could that have meant?).

Strangely, these colorful bunch seemed oddly nice to be around. But she still didn't know if they would be considered friends or not. She had only come because Momoi asked her too. Regardless, she would not mind becoming friends with the group if such an opportunity arises.

* * *

"I'm home," Nanami's voice resounded through the corridors. She sighed as she assumed that no one was home. It had been like this for some time now. During the break, the oldest Asahina sibling had been busy helping their mother out with work while the second oldest had joined a nearby volleyball team for fun, and the youngest in the family was doing who knows what. Sometimes he would be home, other times he would be off either with the second brother or doing his own things. None of them had stopped the youngest as long as he was not getting into unnecessary trouble.

"...It's kinda... lonely..." She muttered to herself, noticing the quiet throughout the house. Nanami did not have much to do, and neither did she wanted to make an effort during the break. Her focus was solely on her studies. She needed to get accepted into the best schools she could with the current conditions her mother was in. And it did her good, Teikō had accepted her with the her entrance exam score. Now she just need to keep this up while being apart of the basketball club.

Her eyes gazed up at the clock, seeing how late it was. She had managed to get back home herself, despite both Momoi and Aomine pestering her about walking her home, although she immediately declined their offers. She was thankful that she only lived a few blocks down the convenience store and told the two that she would be fine. Despite that, Momoi would not take no for an answer until Nanami came up with the compromise to exchange numbers with the girl and text her when she arrived home. Which was what she did right now, texting Momoi's number that she had arrived so she would ease the other girl's worries. After that she thought to herself about what to do next.

"Ah, they'll probably come home late, might as well start making dinner," She head upstairs and placed her bag in her room and changed into some casual clothing before proceeding downstairs towards the kitchen. Soon she starting preparing dinner for her family and sighed. Maybe joining the basketball club would be a good change.

No more spending the days alone.

She guessed that being a manager wasn't that bad after all if it meant being around such a colorful bunch of students.

* * *

 **Ah chapter 3 is up and done. Although not much Akashi in this one, I wanted to show Nanami's first interactions with the GoM (minus Kise and Kuroko) and her possible impressions of them. This one is also pretty long as well! I tried to make sure they all were in character. Aomine's comment about Nanami was more intentionally for comedic purposes so whether or not it was him being in character wasn't in mind just to let you all know. In all honestly this chapter seemed a bit messy, so I did my best to make it better than it was before, but at the moment I'm out of ideas on how to improve it. Anyways hope everyone had a good New Years!**

 **Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Review on how to improve the story for the future or any ideas you would like to see in the future!**


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